Cybertruck: The Embarrassing Beginning of Teslas Demise | Hacker News Reader

Cybertruck: The Embarrassing Beginning of Teslas Demise

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It's a really cool looking and expensive and slightly less practical pickup truck. The designers really went all out in making it look cool, everything from the hub caps to the bed but it does come with some practicality issues.

Personally, I don't understand why there's such an enormous market for really expensive pickup trucks. I'd much rather have one of those k trucks from japan, the really small and cheap ones from the 80s or 90s. easy to repair, reliable and super practical. and they look cool in their own way too. i'd want it to be electric though.

> everything from the hub caps to the bed but it does come with some practicality issues.

That's an understatement, especially considering that you used "hub caps" as an example of where they went all out... but those hub caps actually had huge practicality issues themselves and have now been replaced with a quite ugly alternative.

Sorry, but can you list examples of practical and less practical hub caps? :D

Bed I agree the angle around cabin is too steep for some, but otherwise seems like regular truck.

they said the hub caps had edges which were causing damage to tires

Yup, but how is it a demise for Tesla?

> It's a really cool looking

Citation needed

You don't need to prove you like something. Its a personal taste not an objective fact.

Love or hate cybertruck, but don't go around and criticize people who like the look

ok, it may or may not be cool looking but that was the intended purpose. one side effect of this decision is of course to make it less practical

> It's a really cool looking...

That's really in the eye of the beholder.

To me it's a ridiculous monstrosity pointing to serious insecurities inhabited by the person sitting in the driver's seat.

And it's ugly as hell (at least to my eyes)

I think it looks very cool.

But I’d be skeptical of a truck with limited towing range. If I ever got a truck, I’d want to justify it with being able to tow large things far (100s of kilometres).

In this area, Rivian's are everywhere and Cybertrucks are non-existent. Has anyone seen a compilation or response from Tesla why they didn't follow their own design decisions that started with the sportster through the E -- build a car that people already know and are familiar with -- and instead take a lark on the Cybertruck?

The original motive was that enough batteries for a truck were expensive, and if you did a radical redesign with a folded exoskeleton and didn't paint it you could radically reduce weight and cost, making an EV truck possible. They were also developing a next generation battery to make this feasible.

A lot of time time passed. 3rd party batteries got cheaper/better. Tesla abandoned the exoskeleton idea and failed to hit its battery targets.

So now they're putting a lot of effort into building a funny looking truck that is all form and no function while traditional truck makers are just jamming a lot of batteries into a standard truck and achieving something better on many dimensions.

Reminder of how Model 3 was a failure:

$4k Renault compared to Tesla Model 3 (thedrive.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14807222

Tesla Faces Accelerating Rate of Model 3 Refunds (secondmeasure.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17230510

Tesla Model 3 fault rate is the highest of any car: report (cleanenergyrevolution.co) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38358760

Early owners of Tesla's Model 3 are reporting quality problems (latimes.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16547802

Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up (bloomberg.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11630351

Tesla Model 3 Falls Short of a CR Recommendation (consumerreports.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17119570

The Tesla Model 3 reminds me of the times the electronics failed in my first car (theverge.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15061050

Tesla's magic is wearing off as Model 3 excitement dwindles (cnn.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17621251

A Tesla Model 3 Produces More CO2 Than a Diesel Car, Says New Study (interestingengineering.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19770491

Special pick, best of Jalopnik (aka Gawker):

Tesla Model 3 Traps TikToker Inside 115-Degree Car During a Software Update

Tesla's Cybertrucks are rusting despite stainless steel

Tesla’s EV Market Share Is Dropping Fast

Tesla Cybertruck No Match for Car Wash

Bumper Falls Off Brand New Tesla Model 3 After 30 Minutes and Some Rain

See https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=jalopnik.com

all these youtubers calling elon this or that for making this truck. what does it make them then, i mean they bought it and couldnt wait to record it right? i bet they still showing off the car to all they friends still instead of hiding it and actually being embarrassed

Finally saw one on the road up north. Epic! Glad to see supply chain innovation in automotive.

No time to watch the video.

Does he at least acknowledge the groundbreaking engineering for a production vehicle with things like 48V architecture, data CAN bus, and steer by wire, and how this will all likely roll into future Tesla vehicles for a big potential competitive advantage?

Why would you come out with a production vehicle that's - if I understand you correctly - just a development/test platform for future Tesla vehicles?

Because that was how Tesla became what it is today starting with the Roadster.

It's a tried and true formula of release a high end, very expensive vehicle with a lot of experimental features that funds and proves out the engineering process that you can eventually roll into cheaper, more well made offerings.

He probably discussed things like value and comparison to other electric pickups.

I don't know if the average truck owner is too concerned about the data CAN bus or 48V arch. Much like how the average computer owner isn't too concerned with CPU ISA or voltage.

I'll watch the video later and get back to you.

Yes, in that he says all those things aren't new, and don't seem to be actually offering benefits compared with other EV trucks from manufacturers that started later than Tesla.

48V and steer by wire already exist in other cars.

Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, Renault, Kia, Hyundai all have 48V cars. Some of those are several years old.

The Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ 450e are fully steer by wire.. and Silverado EV and Hummer EV use it for the rear steering. All of those are on the market.. The bZ4X is from 2022.

Edit: I looked up the data can bus changes for the cybertruck... that's not new either. Look up "Automotive Ethernet"

> Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, Renault, Kia, Hyundai all have 48V cars. Some of those are several years old.

Those all still have a 12V system as well.

> The Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ 450e are fully steer by wire

2025 models, not current models.

> Those all still have a 12V system as well.

Model 3 and Model Y and Model S and Model X still have a 12V system as well, lol

Model 3/Y/X are only 12V. Cybertruck is only 48V. Audi has cars with both 48V and 12V. You're not going to get the cost savings benefits of switching to 48V by having both 48V & 12V.

Please tell me another car that uses 48V for the whole electric system. Indeed there are other hybrid cars that use a 48V but only for the hybrid part. The actual benefit of Cybertruck's 48V system is that it lowered the amount of copper needed and simplified the whole system.

Then look again at steer by wire. Indeed, RZ450e seemed to have it last year in reviews as an optional packaged but now if I look on their website, there's nowhere to be found. Also, Toyota bZ4x stil doesn't have it, the plan is by the end of 2024. So yeah, not from 2022 like you said... And of course for rear steering it was always used, but the novelty in Cybertruck is the front steer by wire.

I also did look Automotive Ethernet and there are indeed a lot of informations about it, but again, tell me which cars have it for the whole system. There are indeed some like Hyundai that use it only for Entertainment system or VW for the driver assist. The main advantage of Cybertruck is that it's being used for everything which translates to lower complexity and lower cost.

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